Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for mounting an exterior belt to a vehicle door, and more particularly to a mounting structure of an exterior belt, which reduces production costs, prevents the formation of a gap, and prevents damage when an exterior belt is mounted or removed.
Description of the Related Art
As illustrated in FIG. 1 of the related art, an exterior belt is mounted to an outer panel 1a of a vehicle door 1 to be adjacent to a window glass which moves vertically within the vehicle door. The exterior belt improves a vehicle design, and is mounted together with or independently of a weather strip to prevent foreign substances and noise from being introduced into the gap between the window glass and the outer panel 1a. 
The exterior belt includes a stainless steel frame 2 which is exposed to the exterior to improve the aesthetic appearance of the vehicle, and an end piece 3 which is coupled into the stainless steel frame 2 while being fixed to only the outer panel 1a or to both the outer panel 1a and an inner panel 1b. A variety of methods of coupling such an end piece 3 are known. Among these methods, a method of fastening an end piece using a screw and a method of fastening an end piece using an arrow-shaped clip 4 formed in the end piece are widely used.
The method of fastening the end piece using the screw is a method in which a screw bore is formed in the end piece and the screw is then fixed to the screw bore in the end piece which passes through inner and outer panels. This method has an advantage of preventing a gap from being formed between the end piece and the panels owing to the strong fastening force. However, the exterior belt may have a poor appearance due to the exposed screw, and it may take a substantial period of time to assemble the exterior belt.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the method of fastening the end piece 3 using the arrow-shaped clip 4 formed in the end piece 3 is a method in which the clip 4 is formed integrally with the end piece 3, and is inserted into a mounting aperture formed in the outer panel 1a to fasten the end piece thereto. In other words, both ends (arrow-shaped portions) of the clip 4 are elastically deformed to contract when the clip is inserted into the mounting aperture when both ends of the clip are expanded, and both ends of the clip are elastically restored to an original state when the insertion of the clip 4 into the mounting aperture is completed, to fix the end piece to the outer panel. This method has advantages of achieving low cost and rapid assembly owing to the elimination of screws. However, a gap may be formed between the end piece and the panel in a vertical direction and/or a lateral direction due to the relatively weak fastening force (upon external impact etc.). Moreover, since the clip 4 may be damaged when the end piece is removed if necessary, costs for replacement thereof may be increased.